Not again....

I had an operation to remove some big bone spurs and reattach my achilles tendon back in January of 2016 - that was on my right foot. Now my left foot is having the same problems. Here we go again....

Jewelry Donation for Oktoberfest

I donated one of my "Mermaids Tears" necklaces for the benefit auction at Delaware Technical Community College where I am employed. I used an ancient little gift card that I was given years ago to identify who created the jewelry since I don't use my old business name of White Rhino Graphics anymore.

Another Flashback photo...

this time of Gerry. I took this photo on our first trip to the beach together- after which his parents refused to speak to him for several weeks. I shot it with my beloved K1000 Pentax, best camera ever and I still have it. The time frame would be 1976-1977. He was 20 in this photo. Look at that hair, look at that face, is it any wonder I fell in love with him!!!

Flash Back

Over the holidays a freind asked Gerry and me for photos from about the time we met. I dug this one up which I hadn't seen in years. Gerry took it near the wooden bridge in the Hoopes Resourvor area of northern Delawaaare. I remember that pink jacket so well, I loved it and wore it to death. This photo is unusual because I normally didn't wear this much make-up back then and this is 100% my natural hair color! A rare photo indeed! I was 20 years old in this photo.

Not at all Wordless Wednesday

For over ten years I had a jewelry business selling earrings, brooches and necklaces that I handcrafted. At the end I was in 21 stores in three states- and that's what ended it. At this same time I was working fulltime at the Museum, I was doing a lot of freelance graphic design through my company White Rhino Graphics. And I was trying to finish my first novel, The Fourth Storm, and I had a pretty active social life with Gerry.

Instead of being fun, it became on obligation. I'll likely go back to it when I retire, but now there's the Web, so my selling will be online- ahh, no more getting up at the crack of dawn to lug tables and boxes of jewelry to an outdoor craft fair!!!!!!

(Yeah, except now I get up at the crack of dawn to load a horse into a trailer and go to a horse show : )

Hair...I can't do it

I've been trying to grow my hair out and I just.can.not.do.it....it looks awful, these are the cuts I'm considering:

Oh wait, this is me!!!!

16 plus inches of snow

This is where I wish I was right now...cruising out of Baltimore headed somewhere warm, with someone else preparing my meals and making my bed.

Oh well, the reality is 16 plus inches of snow fell over the weekend, but-the upside is- it's very warm out today and the snow is melting!!!!

I'm back!

Ugh, what a winter. I've been teaching, working, and reorganizing my own online business. And then I was hit my a case of bronchitus that I just can't seem to shake. So, those are my excuses! Tonight, I'm excited to begin teaching a new class- "How to start an Online Business." Since creating (and maintaining) a blog plays a big role in what I plan to talk about tonight I thought it wise to get mine back up to speed.


So, for your viewing pleasure, here are some photos of my own studio.

I'm back

Previous posts have sadly detailed the loss of my beloved sister Ellen in late November. I'd like to thank everyone for their kind words and expressions of sympathy - the loss of Ellen in my life is huge, but my relief that she is no longer suffering is greater. Rest in peace my dear, sweet Ellen.

Ellen Arden Burke

Ann, Ellen and Susan at our Grandparents home in Illinois.
Ellen

Ann, Mother, Ellen, Susan, and MJ

Daddy, MJ, Ellen, and Susan, Colorado

My sister, Ellen Arden Burke passed way the afternoon of Saturday, November 28, in Port Orchard, Washington.

My sister Ellen was an elegant woman, who strove for perfection in everything she did. She was also the most loving and caring of sisters, and I miss her very, very much.

Her doctors are still unsure what her illness was, one thought has been progressive supranuclear palsy. What we do know is that Ellen began suffering from massive and numerous grand mal seizures about 6 years ago and from that point her health rapidly declined. She saw many specialists and visited the Mayo Clinic, but no one has been able to identify exactly what was wrong with her and what caused the onset of the seizures.

Ellen's body is now with doctors and researchers at the University of Washington. Hopefully this research will provide an understanding of what happened to Ellen and help prevent it from happening to anyone else.

My sisters, Ann and Susan, along with my husband Gerry Lamenzo, visited Ellen in late May. If you are interested, there are photos from our trip on this blog under May and June. Ellen was bed ridden at that point and very frail, but she recognized us and we were able to talk with her. It was a heartwrenching visit for Gerry and me because we knew we’d likely never see Ellen again.

I am very relieved that Ellen isn’t suffering any longer. I believe that right now she is in the good company of Dan and Mom and Dad and right now they are catching up and eating Black Bottom Pie. (Because Heaven has got to have good food right?)

And I’d like to think that Ali, Sammy, Keesha, Sundance, Ben, and Simon are hanging around the table getting handouts and belly rubs, and somewhere in the distance Image and Tommy are watching over all of them, waiting to take them on a long fast gallop.

I believe that death is just a brief interruption in our relationships with our loved ones and that’s why, though I miss her desperately, I know I’ll see my beloved Elspeth again.

Sisters

Early yesterday morning my best friend L. called to tell me that her sister had died during the night.

I spent the rest of day thinking about L. and her sister, and, about my own sisters. I mentally revisited the bumpy path that our relationships have traveled--but despite geographic distance and vastly different personalities and lifestyles, despite all that is different, I'm still awed by the strength that bond of "sisters" holds.

Today's photo is of me (I'm the little one) with one of my sisters.

Happy 4th of July!

The weather here in the mid-Atlantic is just lovely, cool nights, warm days, no rain. Not usual July weather for these parts. Yesterday Gerry and our barn buddy E. and I had a terrific trail ride, I especially like the long stretches through the woods with the more technical stuff like little bridges and creeks to cross and logs to step over.

This morning was all about gardening and we got the front garden pruned and weeded and in the back removed one of the ornamental grasses to better show off my hydrangea's. Must get some photos up of them.

No riding today, we are off this pm to near Baltimore for a family event and then late this evening to a friend's house for a party and watch fireworks. I've made my in(famous) Bourbon Slush’s to take along with miniature cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting and a toasted pecan on top (semi-homemade.)

Today's photo was taken in Estes Park, CO. My grandparents had a huge cabin there (three bedrooms downstairs and a huge dorm upstairs for all the grandkids.) Every summer we would drive out from Illinois to spend a couple of weeks there- my all time happiest summer memories. I've been working with a lot of my old family photos lately and this one made me think 4th of July, family, and good thoughts.

A happy and safe holiday to one and all.

The Fourth Storm

Late afternoon, September. It was if a blanket was slowly being drawn across the sky: the pale light slowly smothered by a blue black void. The air was still, fragrant with salt and pine; warm with a tacky dampness. Even the insects, which had just begun their nightly chorus, had quieted. Something was coming. The stillness deepened into a perfect absence of noise.

Only a few people were still scattered across the narrow strip of beach. Most had long since had their fill of sand and sweat and had piled into hot cars and headed north.

The last remaining families turned and faced the blackness. Their movements seemed precisely choreographed. They paused, listened, turned, and jerkily placed hands to eyes. Jaws slackened and pulses quickened. It had come so quickly.

The first explosion of energy was human. Towels, soda cans, radios mixed and swirled as beaching accouterments are gathered and jammed into any space, under any arm, into any hand.

WE MUST LEAVE NOW.

The smallest children are jerked one‑armed out of the berm and dragged up the beach.

WE MUST LEAVE NOW.

The black blanket continued to envelop the sky. As it extinguished the last remaining sunray, a tremendous wind announces its triumph and serves notice to humans hidden away in stores and homes. Thousands of panes of glass shiver in its presence. A jagged tear splits the heavens. Claps of thunder are expected but still jarring ‑ the evening's entertainment had begun.

Shamelessplug alert! If you enjoyed this and would like to read more, please consider ordering my novel, The Fourth Storm from Amazon. If you like it let me know!

My First Ride

I've been putting together a slide show of old family photos for one of my sisters and in doing so I came across this classic. It was taken in Estes Park, Colorado when I was 6 years old (yes, I know, I look way older than 6-when I was 12 people thought I was about 16.) I'm on the right followed by my sister Susan and my Mom on the Paint. I can remember to this day the excitement and happiness that trail ride gave me. Seeing the photo brings back all those feelings, but tempered now by sadness ... when I look at this photo and see how underweight my horse was. I can only imagine how hard life was for those hard working trail horses.

Flash Fiction Brooches

For almost a decade now I’ve been blending my love for writing and creating brooches into an art form that I call narrative jewelry. The concept is that I create a brooch that is not only a functional piece of jewelry but also a three dimensional illustration to a written story that comes packaged with the brooch. These narratives take the form of a miniature storybook, letter, diary entry, or postcard. Within these narratives I expand facets of characters or plotlines which I pull from my novel, “The Fourth Storm.”
Last year I was inspired to shorten my narrative for a new series of brooches when I read about a new creative writing art form called “flash fiction.” I immediately fell in love with the idea of conveying the essence of a story in under 1,000 words – or in my version of flash fiction, just a few words! Within days I began a new series of brooches; on the back of each I placed a short line of text that was inspired by the collaged imagery on the front.

These brooches are also a great way to incorporate those bits and piece, beads and baubles that have been lying around your studio waiting for a job to do.

My goal is that the wearer of each brooch will embark on a creative journey with me; that my variation of flash fiction will be the catalyst their imaginations need to develop the rest of the story.

Oak Brook

I think I was born wanting a horse. We lived in a suburb of Chicago and were decidedly middle class, so owning a horse of my own was out of the question. Thankfully, my Mom, who was from Denver originally, had had a polo playing boyfriend who taught her, so the idea of her child riding wasn't out of the question. I begged and begged for lessons and finally at age six she enrolled me at Keith Line Stables. Lord, I think there must have been twenty horses in that indoor for each lesson, just crazy. I was there for about a year and then we switched to a riding school in Oak Brook. Once a week lessons don't a rider make as this stylized photo attests. But I lived for that that one hour on a horse each week.

The Phone Call You Dread

This morning we got the phone call everyone dreads. It was my barn owner telling us that Beau, our 13 year old Paint gelding was coughing. We raced down to the barn, which is about a 22 minute drive from our home to see him. After checking his temperature and other vitals signs and watching him for an hour we are pretty sure he is just fine.

Two years ago I got a phone call which didn't have such a good outcome. It was my barn owner, a different barn owner than today, calling to tell me that my horse, Image had been hurt in a pasture accident. Those next hours were the worst of my life and that cold evening ended with me on the ground wrapped around Image in grief. A hind leg had been shattered and we'd had to make the decision to have him euthanized.

When we got the call this morning, while it was certainly far less dire, it nevertheless brought up all those frightening feelings all over again. Image was my very first horse. He was the horse I learned to ride again on, and who took care of my husband while he learned to ride. He'd been a school horse and I bought him for the grand sum of $225. Even if we wouldn't be able to ride him very much I wanted to be sure that this wonderful horse had a grand retirement. Even though I know I couldn't prevent his accident I still and will always feel that I failed him. Rest in peace my beloved Image, rest in peace.

Don't Over Design the Solution

If you have even a casual interest in art, horses, writing and making money work for you than you've landed in the right blog, welcome!

I'm MJ Arden and until a few months ago I had a web site. It was beautiful to look, had some interesting content, but the truth is I didn't update it very often. It was cool to give people my domain name (OK, the cool factor lessened a lot over the years for sure.) The truth is I was over designing the solution to my communications problem.

I wanted to be able to communicate, get feedback, and update frequently. My solution: I didn't renew my domain name, canceled my hosting service and here I am on Blogger.

"Don't over design the solution" is one of my life mantra's and you'll see more examples in the coming months. Another overarching theme of this blog will be saving money to better afford what I really want in life. When I can I'm going to end each blog with how I've saved money that day, I'd love to know how you do it too!

Money Saved Today: Canceled my domain name registration- saved $199
Canceled my Web site hosting service - saved another $199
Cost of Blogger: FREE!!!!!!